Power struggles

In Daniel 4, we see one king, King Nebuchadnezzar being ‘cut down to size’ by the one true God, the God of Daniel and the exiles. This king responds by recognising his place before this God. In Daniel 5, we meet another king – King Belshazzar, the son of Nebuchadnezzar – who needs to be reminded of who God is and who he is in relation to this God.

While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them….As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.  Daniel 5:2,4

This is considered a step too far. He’s overstepped the mark thinking he can use these sacred objects for his own pleasure. He’s become a victim of his own self-importance and lost all respect for anyone or anything else.

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.  Daniel 5:5-6

None of the king’s wise men can tell him what the writing means. The queen tells the king about Daniel ‘who has the spirit of the holy gods in him’, who helped the king’s father in moments such as these. He’s the one Belshazzar needs to summon.

“If you can read this writing and tell me what it means, you will be clothed in purple and have a gold chain placed around your neck, and you will be made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.”

Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.”  Daniel 5: 16-17

Daniel tells the king the story of how his father was cut down to size and reveals to him how he has gone too far by desecrating the holy goblets and thus demonstrating his own utter disdain for the things of God.

you did not honour the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.  Daniel 5:23

And so his days as king are numbered and his kingdom is going to be divided. The king does reward Daniel in the ways he said he would. But it is too late for the king. That very night, he is slain.

These two chapters about these two kings are all about power and the misuse of power. Daniel reveals that the power of the living God is far greater than the power of an human king. That the power that comes from knowing the living God can give him the confidence and wisdom he needs to navigate his way through these two immensely tricky situations. Daniel is seemingly powerless in this situation of exile in the dark reality of this pagan super-power and yet he has total faith in the power of his God to save.

In his book ‘Stretch’, Gerard Kelly brings this right up to date in his reflection on these chapters. He points out how throughout the centuries, the power that has come with Christianity has often been used for bad. Kelly quotes the Australian urban missionary Dave Andrews who suggests that –

Christianity is so deeply linked to oppression and injustice, so indelibly marked by the violence of its past, that is is time to start again with something new.  Page 96, Stretch

There’s an abuse of power here – when Christians take hold of the power that they have been given and use it in ways that have nothing to do with the love and mercy of the living Christ.

But Daniel’s situation is not about abdicating power on earth. Quite the opposite. He is given a position of power in Babylon. It’s about using power for good and not for evil. The power that Jesus teaches about is the ability to empty yourself and serve. It’s all about service not dominance. The son of God washes the feet of his disciples. In Philippians 2, it talks about Jesus living a selfless, obedient life and dying a selfless, obedient death. And yet Jesus was the greatest man that ever lived, a human with all the power of God at his disposal.

Jesus establishes once and for all that to lead is to serve.  Page 103, Stretch

Leadership does involve direction and decisions. It does set the leader apart from those he/she is leading. But true leadership has nothing to do with personal power, position and platform. It’s so hard for leaders to keep hold of this and not be misled by their position into believing in their own importance.

Becoming a leader is a servant calling. It’s the subversive story throughout the whole Bible. Over and over again, the Bible severs the relationship between power and status. Any resources we are given are given to us to be shared with those who have none. Any power we have been given has been given to us to use on behalf of those who have no power at all.

Daniel demonstrates this. He does not stand in resistance and rebellion to the kingdom in which he finds himself. He serves the kingdom, he serves the king, diligently and faithfully and humbly. He empties himself of his own agenda and aspirations and expectations and serves.

In our contemporary society, we see Christianity being pushed into the margins of society. We used to call ourselves a Christian country and it was easy to be a Christian. It was widely accepted and part of the very fabric of society. But perhaps that made it too easy. Perhaps we took that for granted. Now people are up in arms all over Facebook for example about the rights we should have as Christians – the right to wear a cross or call Christmas Christmas or the right to have a Nativity ply in schools. But if we were to follow Daniel’s example, we would not be taking a stand about such things. We would instead be putting all our energies into serving those around us in whatever role we’ve been given diligently, faithfully and humbly. We would be demonstrating the love of God in action.

The margins of society is actually an exciting place to be, a great place to serve God. It’s where we’ll find the people God wants us to love and serve.

our faith has been powerless and marginal before and it is from the margins that the story of Jesus has overturned empires.  Page 112, Stretch

So take a moment our from your righteous indignation and reflect on these truths:-

Self love will never lead to self-fulfilment.

It is in living for others that we find life.

All cultures are worthy of our love and service.

Trust and the willingness to live for others are world-changing weapons.

The way we decide who is important or not reveals an awful lot about us.

When we ‘spend ourselves’ for others, then we will be renewed and fulfilled.

It’s not about retreating into our churches to protect what we have. It’s about getting out there and living a life of love amongst the people who need it the most.